At Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski says that's indeed what Subban is looking for: "The Habs would no doubt argue that Subban is more in line for a (Washington Capitals defenseman) John Carlson-like deal; not in term, which is six years, but in yearly salary, which is $4 million for five of the six years."

Inertia tends to win in these sorts of situations; RFAs virtually never change teams, and protracted holdouts are just as infrequent. Deals happen. But it's time to ask the question: How realistic is it for Subban to sign an offer sheet with another team?

The obvious answer is that he doesn't want to; Subban has said at every available opportunity that, in a perfect world, he's in Montreal for a long time. So maybe he has one in his pocket and will only opt to hit the button if things get ugly.

If Subban doesn't have one in front of him, though … why? Offer sheets are beyond rare, largely because the 30 NHL GMs collusively avoid giving them out, but Subban has shown rare talent and versatility at his position. He quarterbacks power plays, matches up against top talent and logs huge minutes. And again, he's 22 years old. He's the centerpiece of Marc Bergevin's rebuild job, which has already resulted in big contracts for forward Max Pacioretty and goalie Carey Price. He's good—really good—and it's hard to see why Bergevin wouldn't want to keep him around at any cost.

Whether it's Holmgren or someone else, like Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins, why not take a run? Best-case scenario, you get a player who has almost unlimited potential for a true market level-price, then sort out cap issues later. Worst-case scenario, you recreate the Niklas Hjalmarsson situation from a few years back, when the Sharks drove up the Blackhawks' ultimate payout and sent them further into the cap abyss. Montreal isn't in a Chicago-2010 cap crunch, but messing with their internal valuation and long-term plans can only help the Flyers, Bruins or any of the 27 other teams.

Plus, it would be another welcome blow against the GMs' self-defeating attitudes toward offer sheets. Brian Burke has already lost his job, reportedly in part because of his personal campaign against them. As Ducks GM, he drew that line in the sand, and nearly on the ground in barn, over the Dustin Penner fiasco. With the Maple Leafs, it stopped him from maximizing the franchise's limitless financial means. And now, with a new ownership group focused on winning games at whatever cost, he's gone.

So, there's reason for an offer sheet to hit Meehan's desk. At some point, maybe that will actually happen. In any case, the season starts in three days, and Subban is still at home.